Georgia State offers Penn State little resistance, big proving ground

Frank Bodani
York Daily Record
Georgia State coach Shawn Elliott tried out his coachspeak on a ref.

Penn State's Season of Grand Expectations will unveil a vast array of terrain to navigate.

And it all must be focused on and traversed successfully enough. Even the breezy, downhill coasts, like this coming Saturday night.

The Georgia State Panthers arrive in Beaver Stadium to gain Power 5 experience and to cash a big paycheck. Both counts are necessary when trying to nourish a startup program.

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This is only the Panthers' eighth season of football, the fifth with FBS membership. And, as expected, there appears to be a long haul before a reliable foundation can be secured.

They lost to an FCS team a couple of weeks ago — and were as stunningly inept running the football as trying to stop it. Same for turnovers, where they committed four. They were a sloppy mess.

This comes after winning only three times last season. Which, then, nearly defies logic that they owned a fourth-quarter lead at Wisconsin before falling.

Now the building continues with first-year head coach Shawn Elliott, an SEC man. For now, this isn't a bad gig. He's in Atlanta, playing at Turner Field, and is close enough to mine talent that slips through the hands of Georgia, South Carolina and the Florida schools.

At least the Panthers do boast an experienced, savvy quarterback in senior Conner Manning. To have a shot of hanging around Saturday, even in the first half, he must somehow hit on a few lightning strikes.

Penn State's Shareef Miller earned two sacks against the Pitt Panthers in his comeback game after an injury. Will he get to Georgia State QB Conner Manning as often, if not more so? This will be one of the keys to watch early Saturday evening.

We're not sure this team is even equipped for that kind of success. The young, fast-twitch Penn State defenders are eyeing ample run and success, especially defensive ends Shareef Miller, Shaka Toney, Shane Simmons and Yetur Matos-Gross.

“Up front, they’re strong and physical and fast. You probably don’t see the big-time pass-rusher that you see, typically, in the SEC, but man, they’re a good football team," Elliott said.

During his Monday press conference he also loaded praise on tailback Saquon Barkley, saying there may not be a defender in the nation who can bring him down alone.

Penn State must get sharper, deeper and stay healthy before the Big Ten.

Meanwhile, Georgia State is out to prove its value.

"We’ve got a lot at stake for our football program here. It’s a great venue to be playing in, it’s an opportunity for us," Elliott said. "A lot of people are going to see Georgia State football and we’re going to go out and — win or lose — Penn State is going to know we came up there to play a football game. I can assure you of that.”